Tuesday, December 4, 2012

The Neon Hedge: Building Changeling Las Vegas

DESERT
BABYLON

Last night we
went through the city creation process for our new Changeling the Lost campaign
set in Las Vegas. We used a hybrid Microscope/Dresden Files approach with G+. The
group built some big picture elements first (some I’d already established),
then the details of the city (Persons/Places & Rumors/Questions). Each
participant also added a new faction to the mix. I think what continues to
amaze me about this process is that it greats great details while still leaving
the GM enormous room to construct the campaign as they see fit. For GMs who
worry about control- I’d say give it up and enjoy the fun of building around
the concepts your players craft.

BIG
PICTURE ELEMENTS

New Contracts Require Action

Once a
changeling has bought into a Contract set, they can purchase higher ranked
clauses as they wish. However to buy the first item in a Contract set requires
some kind of symbolic action. They can undertake a quest, seek out a mentor who
knows the Contract in depth, commune with a significant representation of the
Contract’s sphere. In practical terms I’ll require the player to spin a brief narrative
riff to justify their purpose- and may negotiate some hurdles to jump through.

Special/Symbolic Actions
to Bank Glamour

Each
Changeling may choose one of the Contract sets as key to their identity. They
may then take actions in game to bank some extra glamour which may only be
spent on those Contracts. The most which can be banked at any time is three
points. The action take should be related and require some time. Sherri’s
example was taking positive and good karma actions on the part of her Ogre
Witchtooth to empower her curses. Players can develop this in play.

Keeper: The Director :D
(Howard Hughes)

Hughes’
madness reflects his change from human to Changeling. Ambitious and strange, he
then went further eventually evolving into a Keeper himself. His influence and
attention linger in the city he built.

Dual Kiths
Allowed/Encouraged

Players may
choose two kiths, one as their primary and one as secondary. This grants two
distinct kith abilities. Characters who opt to be single kith will gain some
extra points for character creation.

Blasted Glass Hedge
Entrance

The one of
the nuclear testing sites outside Las Vegas has an anomaly reaching from the
real world into the Hedge. A plain of blackened blasted glass, still
radioactive, lies well behind military fences. It has a gateway into a
sparkling Hedge made of bright crystal, with trails strewn with broken glass.
Pin-prick glass splinters rain like snow here, making it doubly dangerous. A
path to here from greater Las vegas has not been discovered. Rumors suggest amazing
secrets and treasures hidden in this isolated place.

Accessible Court
Contracts

The Courts of
Las Vegas don’t have a monopoly on their own Contracts. Changelings do not have
to possess Court Mantle to purchase those. Instead, they may gamble for access
to them. These still cost XP to buy, but a Changeling who beats the house can
purchase a particular set as they wish- if they win big they may even get a
discount. Changelings may possess such contracts from multiple Courts.

Neon Elementals

The nature of
Las Vegas has created a new order of Elemental, born of Neon.

Near Future 2020

The campaign
takes place in near-future World of Darkness Las Vegas. The promised year of
Cyberpunk has arrived, bring with it modest changes in the form of higher gas
prices, self-driving electric cars, wearable computing, and a fifth trilogy of Star Wars films.

Goblin Casinos

The Goblins
of Las Vegas are divided into many tribes and groups- engaged in a constant
battle of rivalries and vendettas. Instead of one central Goblin Market, there
are instead many different Goblin Casinos with differing themes, terms, and
goods. Changelings have to be careful maneuvering around the Hedge of the Strip
where Hob Buskers bearing invitations don’t take no for answer.

Struggle between
Mages/Werewolves

Mages and
Werwolves operate in Las Vegas. They’re embroiled in an ongoing struggle, with
the Changelings who know of it wisely keeping the sidelines. However recent
rumors have suggested that both sides have been secretly vying for an alliance
with the Beasts of Vegas.

Farewell Vampires

Vampires are
rare and dangerous within Las Vegas and the world at large. Some form of
Gehenna occurred at the turn of the millennium. Those very few ‘vampires’ who
still exist are...something else.

Underworld Struggles

Reduced in
influence by the ongoing transformation of Vegas into a corporate wonderland, the
Mafia has suffered an additional setback. They have been infiltrated by magical
creatures, resulting in a massive power struggle.

The Nature of Darkness

The process
of building Las Vegas established or left open a number of classic WoD details.
Vampires, Masquerade or Reckoning, have vanished. Geists and Prometheans exist-
likely in the classic form from their sourcebooks. On the other hand, Mages and
Werewloves, while mentioned were not defined further. Therefore they may or may
not follow the classic WoD pattern (as the GM sees fit). We do know one thing
about the werewolves: they’re slightly boring and uncreative.

New Facts of Changeling
Life

Two Freeholds
exist in Vegas, one dominated by the Summer Court. Some Hobs can operate out in
the real world for short periods of time. Fetches are mysterious and killing
one’s fetch has uncertain repercussions. Travel between cities can be dangerous
for Changelings. Outside the protections of a Freehold, they’re significantly
more vulnerable to the attentions of Keepers. Entitlements are spiritual blessings gifted by
mysterious Changelings who have reached some form of enlightenment.

VIVA
LAS VEGAS

THE STRIP

Lights and spectacle. A feast of
glamour and dust running from Mandalay Bay to Circus, Circus.

The central business district of the
city. Once the gambling center, it still has some gaming, but now lends itself
to hotels, convention centers, businesses, high rises, and government offices.

25 Hour Market: While there are many rival Goblin
casinos with varying offerings, challenging obligations, and treasures galore
there’s also the hole-in-the-wall 25 Hour Market. This tiny consistent Goblin
Market Convenience Store always has the basics in stock. Of course there’s a
significant mark-up.

The Count: Bitter and Jaded. He’s the head of
the Society for the Preservation of Vampires

Museum of Strange Things: It has a (partially dissected) ‘alien’
body in it

Rumor: Oh, it’s actually a Changeling

Rumor: No, it’s actually a Keeper!

Rumor: Dude, it’s a mage, twisted by his own
magic. Duh.

Rumor:...Shaved werewolf.

Rumor: It’s that guy that told off the Count.

PARKS & RECREATION

Vegas dedicates itself to
entertainment and away from the casinos the city serves tourists and locals
with playgrounds, gardens, preserves, zoos, sport complexes, and arenas. From
Fairgrounds to Little League Fields to Hiking Trails to Rollerderby Rinks.

General Rumor: A group of beast changelings are
slowly invading Vegas in an attempt to take over the protection racket from the
mafia. They may be using the parks as their gathering ground.

BACKDROP

Behind the glittering façade of Las
Vegas lies the real living city- all the anonymous people who serve the casinos
and the lifers who only know Vegas as their hometown. This includes local
business and industries, schools and campuses, ethnic enclaves, and apparently
uneventful lives concealing secrets.

Papa’s Pawn Shop: A magical store of necessity, it
varies widely in location, moving from place to place.

Off the Clocks: Any changeling can use these
boltholes. They have to break a clock face off the clock to get into the tiny
protected space. However they must pay Changeling-style prices to get out.

Token Rumor: The MT Pass. This blank plastic pass
card when used at a hotel employee’s entrance will take you to what you seek.
That may be for better or worse.

THE EMPTIES

The Vegas dream creates a turnover
population of those who come to settle and vanish quietly when things don’t
turn out as they hoped. The crash of the housing market accelerated the flight of
this turnkey population. They left behind half-finished sub-divisions, schools,
and building projects. But there will always be more arriving to live in these
strip-mall serviced sections of the city.

Thorn Haven: Transient House for Changelings
travelling through Las Vegas. Spotted new arrivals and those who have made
arrangements with the Courts are lodged here. This keeps them isolated from the
Freehold for mutual protection. Working at the haven is a dangerous and rotated
duty.

The Rot: Deep in the sewers below Vegas lies
the Grotto of Rot, full of very strange fungi.

The Clearing House: Banks intent on foreclosing on blocks
of properties hire the more unsavory supernatural elements to create an
atmosphere of unease and depression--increasing their ability to accrue huge
swathes of L.V. real estate for cheap future development

RUNDOWN

Things fall apart. Places get iffy.
People vanish. All cities have dark corners, especially those that run through
the night. These are all those shadowy spaces.

The Runabouts: A Hobgoblin Taxi Service through the
Hedge. They can get Changelings quickly from one part of the city to another
for a price. Their vehicles vary from rickshaws to patchworked minivans.

Question: How do the Hobs maintain an
‘accurate’ map of the Hedge?

Gren Dell’s: A “supernatural” bar where
mages/werewolves/vampires/changelings have a small-area peace treaty. The
owner, Gren Dell can get anyone most any kind of info, but the price is steep.
He must be defeated in hand-to-hand combat.

Serenissima Vindiola: A Promethean-Created who was
apparently assembled out of ‘alien’ material. She is trying to create more of
herself.

The Old Chinese Theatre: Often shows double-creature features,
and kung fu movie marathons. Run by Vera Gaunt, a Torn Sin-Eater newly come
from Los Angeles, bringing a small pack of Sin-eaters with her..

Rumor: Changelings dunno wtf is up with that,
but speculation abounds.

THE OUTLANDS

Between the city and the desert lies
the fringe- the edge gas stations, small communities, truck stops, and dumping
grounds. Here the protections of the Freeholds fade and the wild takes over.

The Hedge Fun: Brothel for those whose tastes run to
the...eclectic. Mortals who make their way there rarely make their way back
out.

The White Lodge: An order of Mages operating in Las
Vegas, in thrall to their regional magical overlords. They operate like a sorcerous
telemarketing firm, trying to rope people into service of their dark master.

Devout Lycanthrope: There’s a container church on one of
the highways run by an old werewolf trucker who has been born-again and is
hiding out from Wayne Newton. He’s friends to all supernatural creatures, so
long as they’re willing to accept Jesus.

Rumor: I heard he’s totally hookin’
up with Sheryl at the Blue Spoon Diner.

SUMMERLINS

Summerlin’s one of the largest
communities of the wealthy in Vegas, but there are many other enclaves like it
scattered throughout the city. Some flaunt celebrity residents while others
hide within gated communities. Wealth, power, and buried secrets.

The Blue Lady: She knows the ways to access
confessions. She’s wealthy and she owns many outlets for confessions--internet,
counseling services, phone.

Pretty Gardens: Manmade lakes hide a collection of
statues, that one may sight-see if one walks along the bottom. These are
housewives turned into pretty statues! Some werewolves rent scuba equipment to
supernatural tourists. They’re called the Pretty Gardens, because
werewolves are not creative.

Welcome to Summer: A second Las Vegas Freehold controls
the wealthy enclave of North Las Vegas. It is run by a banished Keeper who looks
like an alien. He’s led the Summer Court to permanent control of this Freehold
and when a changeling makes him angry, he sells him to one of his old Keeper
friends.

Rumor: Recently, UFO wreckage was found in
the desert, and some wonder if this Summer King didn’t come from the wreckage.

LOST VEGAS (OR THE NEON
HEDGE)

The Hedge reflects the strange natures
and histories of Las Vegas. From odd features within the thorns to the
organization of the Hobs, this covers those places past the veil.

The Strip: No, the other strip. Countless
Goblin Market casinos, all locked in constant war. Like the mortal Strip, only way
nastier.

Circus Circus: A corrupted, evil place where Keepers
go to ‘browse’ for children that they want to take home from them. It’s the
least expensive place to visit on the strip and the games are all rigged to
magically keep their users entranced. While the parents are busy gambling, the
Keepers take the kids, winning them from slot machines in a Hedge version of
the same casino.

Grazeland: There’s a Casino in the hedge run
entirely by Elvis impersonators where the things you gamble for are typical
goblin market fair - and sometimes the odd changeling’s freedom.

The Sanitarium: A casino where changelings can gamble
their clarity

The Outback: A strange hob-podge goblin casino of
redneck & Aussie themes. It has led to a plague of Australian poisonous
toads in the nearby hedge--”Don’t lick it.”

FACTIONS

Department
of Parks and Recreation:
Weird, obsessive, and not to be messed with. Could they perhaps be Beasts?

The
Drummers: Wild pack
of street kids, information dealers and guides. None seem to be older than 14
or 15. Some have suggested a connection to Circus, Circus. The leader tends to
wear a different face, but she and her lieutenants all have inky black eyes.

The
Monorailians:
Mysterious Hobs who have assumed the guise of “Greys”. They feed on unease,
panic and horror from tourists. They appear normal, but out of the corner of
your eye you can see their images.

AROOT: “A Ride Out Of Town”. Some of
the mundanes have gotten the sense that there is something really bad going
on--they run a sort of incredulous underground railroad to get folks who need
help a way to get beyond the city borders and to another place of civilization.
They really don’t get it - but they know that the need is real.

STARR: A group of academics who are trying
to solve the unified theory of Supernaturalism.

“Supernatural
Arms Designers/Dealers”- secretly fuelling the various
wars to continue bringing in the greenbacks.

FIRST SESSION

Players will
begin the game with 10 bonus points for creation.

Characters
may be given flaws. Instead of granting extra experience, these will function
like classic Storyteller, offering additional build points at the beginning. A
character may take up to two flaws. The GM will decide how much the flaws are
worth.

The first
session will be a kind of “Prologue.” We will play out the characters escaping
from the Hedge simultaneously and their first meeting. We’ll set up the arrival
and basic premises. Then we’ll jump forward slightly. This allows everyone to
establish a life and other details (like allies, contacts, etc) as they wish. I
may GM fiat some obligation of community between the Motley members.